Last updated on Nov. 26, 2025 at 08:24 p.m.
Champaign is weighing its first parking meter price increase in more than 15 years as the city works to close a growing deficit in its parking fund.
The city’s parking system operates as an enterprise fund, meaning it must generate enough revenue to cover its own expenses. Money from meters and garages covers the cost of running the system, including maintaining garages, taking care of parking lots and paying the staff who manage those areas.
However, rising costs have strained that model.
City of Champaign administrative services manager and public information officer, Kris Koester, explained that the city looked at comparable markets and found Champaign lagging behind.
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“When we do cost comparisons to other Big Ten university cities … we’ve noticed that we are the lowest priced of all,” Koester said. “That led us to investigate how we can go about improving and enhancing (parking).”
Currently, Downtown meters cost between 25 cents and $1 an hour, while spaces in the University District range from 75 cents to $1 an hour.
According to the city’s revenue analysis, income from parking fines, fees and meters is a major source of revenue, but it has barely budged in recent years.
In fiscal year 2024, the system brought in $3,024,386. That number rose only slightly to $3,033,975 for the 2025 fiscal year, with a budgeted target of $3,072,290 for 2025-26.
Koester noted that the parking system faces the same inflationary pressures as any local Champaign business.
“Nobody likes to raise prices, but we have seen businesses raise their prices to meet their needs and their costs, and that’s what the city is doing,” Koester said.
While the city crunches the numbers, student drivers are worried about the impact on their personal budgets.
Hiba Ayub, senior in Information Sciences, already pays for a garage pass and questioned the value of a price hike in the meters around campus.
“It can be frustrating, especially because there is nowhere to park on campus for free,” Ayub said. “I’m already paying to have my car parked in a garage, and then I have to pay more just to go around campus.”
Owen Harker, senior in LAS, also expressed frustration about the potential increase, saying that the University continues to grow without matching infrastructure.
“(The University) is admitting more and more students,” Harker said. “And instead of putting in more parking garages or more areas to park, (Champaign city is) just upping the prices at the meters.”
Despite the deficit, drivers won’t see new rates immediately. Koester emphasized that the city is taking a methodical approach and does not plan to present a formal proposal to the city council before July 2026.
“We don’t do anything without public input,” Koester said. “The overall goal is to enhance the system and to keep the system available for people to use so people have places to park.”
